A trip above any expectations :)


I was sitting happy in the café at Terminal 1 in Sofia, feeling the excitement about the up-coming days. 5 days in Vienna and Prague ahead, together with Marc, Tsveti...
Marc: I just counted that I had lived with more than 12 people in the last 2 years. And Marc is definitely 1 out of 4 of those people I do love and care about!
Tsveti: A person who I did not have the chance to spend a lot of time with, but the first person in @ I met, even before joining the organization ;) Or as she describes our friendship: one from those personalities you feel that you know from ages, can trust and rely on. Amazing individual and so much similarities between us!

Of course, some problems at the very beginning: landing in Vienna, switching on my mobile to sms my parents and... what the ****, I did not have roaming...unbelievable! Never faced this problem before and did not know that after changing my tariff the last time I was supposed to order roaming! So, imagine me, so depending on my mobile at this moment (as I didn´t know exactly which time is Marc coming the other day, neither did I know how to communicate with Tsveti and the others now). Funny and smart though - I had my Swiss prepaid card, almost out of credit, but functioning :D Nevertheless, thanks to my mum and a friend, I had my happiness and independence the other day.

About the journey as a whole: at the middle of the second day Marc and I discovered the 3 pillars for our 5days together:

1. Walking and sightseeing - more than 15km on foot every day - yes, for sure the best way to "feel" a city, country, its way of living, spirit...
   
2. International eating - it looked so easily: you start with Austrian breakfast, go through Turkish lunch, continue with Japanese dinner, drink some Brazilian caipirinha... at some point Bulgarian cuisine, typical Italian, traditional Czech, continue with something that everyone eats/drinks in Central Europe...
3. Sleeping - 3 different places, always for just few hours. Naturally - easy to fall asleep everywhere after walking around the last 10+ hours

In front of Stephansdom

Posing next to Raiffeisen Bank Headquarters - greatest light effects around Xmas ever
and at the same time - wow, that´s called waste of energy...
Small child playing with Xmas decoration (or at least pretending so ;))
A bit grown-up child playing with... Xmas decoration as well :P

Before leaving from Bulgaria, my head was full with tasks, questions, challenges... I knew that I will keep thinking on some of them during the vacation, keep thinking on friends etc., but amazingly, all the concerns flew away quick and pure enjoy-feeling stayed.

I got what I desperately needed: wonderful conversations with even more wonderful friends, life from different perspective, powerful ideas...
Of course, we celebrated 8.12. as well. It was a fantastic time in Prague, in a Bulgarian restaurant (of course, I was the only one who haven´t been missing the BG food for ages :P). I enjoed wonderful Bulgarian humour, served by Tsveti and 2 other BGs, Zuzi (amazing Slovak girl speaking perfect Bulgarian - yes, perfect, even slang!) and Marc. I have never felt so impressed by our typical BG sense of humour, mixed with discussing the BG way of doing things, the BG way of living etc.
Quote of the evening: Zuzi, when asked why she studied at the Bulgarian school in Bratislava, as non of her family is BG origin: "Well, I always wanted to learn a language which is not that widely spoken, e.g. English, German... But you know what - Bulgarian is actually an international language, I didn´t know it..." Of course, this statement surprised me a lot and I asked why. The answer I got: "Bulgarian is spoken all around - just take a look, you are all over the world - in my grocery store, in a souvenir shop..."

Love you, Tsveti!
Enjoying Prague together and eating medovnik :)
3 happy faces and Prague tower

I guess we all appreciated the opportunity to spend few days together and have the time to really catch up - chat about present and future plans, finding answers or at least advises of questions we are asking ourselves all the time. To see that there are other people with similar world views, to understand differences, to share your concerns and at the end to feel released by receiving ideas and feedback, to help with your experience etc.
Cause this is life, folks - time goes by so quickly, sometimes even without we notice it for real and all we need is to set our priorities and follow them. Of course, time is never enough and that is what I hate now in Bulgaria - hearing it from all around, which mostly costs saving on good moments and refusing to do your hobbies because of lack of time (or lack of priorities?!).

Same city, different views

Sometimes we think, re-think and hesitate too much instead of grabbing an opportunity and enjoying its results. Instead of being more spontaneous from time to time. Yes, you will continue having many work engagements every day and week, no matter you like this fact or not. So it just depends on us what will prevail when ruling our life. Dont care too much about what "other people" say or think about you - we laughed so much with Marc when sharing reactions of friends and relatives who understood that we are going together on vacation. This vacation was a present indeed!
Thank you dear Marc! For all the talks, sharing, wonderful orientation, our sushi evenings and caipirinha night, for being such an amazing individual, for reminding me what Swiss means (mm, yes, the fondue was terrific :)), for the plans for a future vacation ;)


So, back in Sofia now. Even more things to think about. Though some of them seen from a different angle.

Time for decisions.
Time to be more determinate about my actions and what I want to happen to me in my life.
Time to finally decide whether a special person for me will really have a different role in my life or just stop giving him chances.
And definitely trying to rely more on the motto: "..just trust the process".
Seeking for answers until Christmas.

Just happy :)

The end - thanks for reaching it ;)